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The Matterhorn ((ドイツ語:Matterhorn) (:ˈmatərˌhɔrn), (イタリア語:Monte Cervino) (:ˈmonte tʃerˈviːno), (フランス語:Mont Cervin) (:mɔ̃ sɛʁvɛ̃)) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a huge pyramidal peak in the Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, whose summit is high, making it one of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe.〔Considering summits with at least 300 metres prominence, it is the 6th highest in the Alps and Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains.〕 The four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face the four compass points and are split by the Hörnli, Furggen, Leone and Zmutt ridges. The mountain overlooks the Swiss town of Zermatt in the canton of Valais to the north-east and the Italian town of Breuil-Cervinia in the Aosta Valley to the south. Theodul Pass, located at the eastern base of the peak, is the lowest passage between its north and south side. The Matterhorn was studied by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure in the late eighteenth century, who was followed by other renowned naturalists and artists such as John Ruskin in the nineteenth century. Remaining still unclimbed after most of the other great Alpine peaks were climbed, the Matterhorn became the subject of an international competition for the summit. The first ascent of the Matterhorn was finally made in 1865 from Zermatt by a party led by Edward Whymper but ended disastrously when four of its members fell to their deaths on the descent. That climb and disaster, portrayed in several films, marked the end of the golden age of alpinism. The north face was not climbed until 1931, and is amongst the six great north faces of the Alps (as well as ‘The Trilogy’, the three hardest of the six). The west face, which is the highest of the four, was completely climbed in 1962. It is estimated that over 500 alpinists have died on the Matterhorn since the first climb in 1865, making it one of the deadliest peaks in the Alps.〔''Journal de Genève'', 10-28-1995, p. 23〕 The Matterhorn is mainly composed of gneisses from the Dent Blanche nappe, lying over ophiolites and sedimentary rocks of the Penninic nappes, the gneisses being originally fragments of the African Plate. The current shape of the mountain is the result from the cirque erosion due to multiple glaciers diverging from the peak, forming a ''horn''. Sometimes referred to as the ''Mountain of Mountains'',〔In German: ''Berg der Berge''〕 the Matterhorn has become an iconic emblem of the Swiss Alps and the Alps in general. Since the end of the 19th century, when railways were built in the area, it has attracted increasing numbers of visitors and climbers. Each summer a large number of mountaineers try to climb the Matterhorn from the Hörnli Hut via the northeast Hörnli ridge, the most popular route to the summit, with a large number of trekkers as well, undertaking the 10-day long circuit around the mountain. == Naming == To understand the german name ''Matterhorn'', understanding where the word ''Zermatt'' comes from is required : it can be decomposed as the two words ''Zer'' / ''Matt(u)''. The first, related to the German preposition ''zur'', can be loosely translated as "towards" and the second is related to the Swiss German word ''Matte'', meaning "alpine meadow".〔(Pons )〕 (It should be remembered that in this part of the Alps, meadows can hardly be found below the tree line, so the village serves as a gateway towards these meadows slightly higher up, hence the name "towards the meadows".) Decomposing ''Matterhorn'' as two words again yields ''Matter'' and ''Horn'';〔http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Matterhorn&allowed_in_frame=0〕 the second word means "horn, peak", whereas the first is our ''Matte'' in the genitive case, meaning possession : literally, ''Matterhorn'' means "Zermatt's peak". It should be noted that it is common to drop the preposition when talking about anything related to Zermatt : Matterhorn, Mattertal, etc. The French name (''Cervin''), from which derives as well the Italian one (''Cervino''), comes from ''Mons Silvanus'' (or ''Mons Sylvanus'') from the Latin word ''silva'', meaning ''forest'' via the corrupted form ''Selvin'', then ''Servin''. The changing of the first letter "s" to "c" is attributed to Horace Bénédict de Saussure,〔(24 heures: Déguisé le Mont-Cervin, 17.10.2008 )〕 who thought that the word was related to a deer (French: ''cerf'' and Italian: ''cervo'').〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Swiss Mountains - Names )〕 In Sebastian Münster's ''Cosmography'', published in 1543, the name of ''Matter'' is given to the Theodul Pass, and this seems to be the origin of the present German name of the mountain. On Münster's topographical chart this group is marked under the names of ''Augstalberg'' ("Aosta mountain") and ''Mons Silvius''. An hypothesis of Josias Simler (''De Alpibus Commentarius'', 1574) on the etymology of the name of Mons Silvius was readopted by T. G. Farinetti:〔Bulletin of the Italian Alpine Club (vol. ii., 1867, p. 107)〕 "Silvius was probably a Roman leader who sojourned with his legions in the land of the Salassi and the Seduni, and perhaps crossed the Theodul Pass between these two places. This Silvius may have been that same Servius Galba whom Caesar charged with the opening up of the Alpine passes, which from that time onward traders have been wanting to cross with great danger and grave difficulty.〔Caesar, ''De Bello Gallico'', book iii.〕 Servius Galba, in order to carry out Caesar's orders, came with his legions from Allobroges (Savoy) to Octodurum (Martigny) in the Valais, and pitched his camp there. The passes which he had orders to open from there could be no other than the St. Bernard, the Simplon, the Theodul, and the Moro; it therefore seems likely that the name of Servius, whence Silvius and later Servin, or Cervin, was given in his honour to the famous pyramid." It is not exactly known at what period the new name of Servin, or Cervin, replaced the old, from which it seems to be derived.〔Rey, Guido, The Matterhorn, p. 289〕 The Matterhorn is also named ''Gran Becca'' by the Valdôtains〔Silvia Tenderini, ''La montagna per tutti: ospitalità sulle Alpi nel Novecento'', 2002, p. 40〕 and ''Horu'' by the local Walliser German speaking people.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Matterhorn )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Matterhorn」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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